DoD Agency Recognizes Booz Allen with Distinguished "Above and Beyond" Award
The firm is honored for its unwavering support of its employees serving with the Virginia National Guard and Reserve forces.
On May 17, 2008, Booz Allen Hamilton was honored with the prestigious “Above and Beyond” Award in recognition of the firm’s extraordinary support of and dedication to employees who serve in Virginia’s National Guard and Reserve. The award specifically noted the firm’s support of Staff Sergeant and associate Ralph Martins.
The award was conferred by the Virginia Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency of the Department of Defense (DoD) within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (OASD/RA).
“Supportive employers are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the nation’s National Guard and Reserve forces,” says ESGR Virginia State Chair Dr. Charles Quillin. “The ESGR Above and Beyond Award publicly recognizes employers who provide extraordinary patriotic support and cooperation to their employees, who, like the citizen warriors before them, have answered their nation’s call to serve.”
At an event held at the Fort Belvoir Officer’s Club, Booz Allen principal and retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General Jan Huly accepted the award on behalf of the firm.
Martins was an active-duty Marine before joining Booz Allen. He returned to service as a Marine Reservist after 9/11, and has since been mobilized twice and sent to Iraq three times. In nominating the firm for the award, Martins wrote to ESGR that Booz Allen has made his renewed military commitment very easy: “Their support is beyond generous and more than anyone should expect from an employer.”
Martins says his supervisors respect his military obligations, and provide benefits and pay differential when he and other employee reservists are mobilized. Members of his team keep in touch during his deployments by sending e-mails and care packages.
Huly was moved by both the nomination and the sincerity of those attending the ESGR event. “The firm was recognized for our genuine and thorough support of and cooperation with our Reserve and National Guard staff members,” he says. “But winning the award is not the important thing. The Reservists and Guardsmen return such loyalty and effort to the firm and their co-workers because of the support that Booz Allen gives them. The award is just an outward manifestation of the firm’s patriotic corporate culture.”
Another way Booz Allen supports its military veterans and National Guard and Reserves members is with its Armed Services Forum. The forum provides outreach and professional development opportunities for employees with military backgrounds and assists them with the transition from military to corporate culture. It also helps develop programs that ease reintegration when staff returns from active duty.
National Guard members and Reserve forces from all branches of the military comprise about half of the nation’s total available military manpower. ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation between Reserve members and their civilian employers and recognize exceptional employer support.
story posted July 1, 2008
